Starmyu

Story: 5/10 Generic. The story involves 5 boys who have auditioned and been put into an idol group within their school and must compete to be placed into the music department. This means they’ll be evaluated on their performance growth to see whether they could make it in the schools official elite musical. Generally, you would assume this would mean competing against the other groups of performers for a place in the department. While this is true, it’s only to an extent. Ive counted over 20 different groups, and we only saw one group besides our main group ever perform, which they only did twice. Thismeans there is almost ZERO tension when they are ranked as we dont see what any of the other teams did to compare them too! We dont even get to see much of the technical side of rehearsing, as we mostly receive still shots of stretches or poses. Whatever. Sound: 7/10 Going back and listening to the tracks, they actually werent bad. I think my favorite voices belong to Kaito and Kakkeru. Voice acting was pretty solid but I cant really recall much background music. Characters: 5/10 Generic Tropes. We have the stoic, blue haired “perfect” boy with an Onii-san complex, Red-haired and arrogant uppity boy, a timid motherly type who just wants peace, The purple other-stoic but also edgy artsy one (he plays piano!), and the BORING upbeat brown-haired protagonist. Red-har was the most entertaining, as I appreciate the arrogant ones a lot plus, his cat stuff was cute. However, the character interactions just dont feel right. After watching it, the kids barely know shit about each other and I really barely feel any substance tying each other together aside from being on team Otori. I suppose Nayuki became more outgoing from being on the team and being around MC-kun, but it want really focused on. The characters barely reflect on their past or talk about their feelings so I really dont understand why I should care. Art/Animation: 3/10 Art: TERRIBLE. The character designs are so uncomfortable to look at. Almost every frame had me cringing just at the faces. Seriously, what were they thinking. It’s easy to see almost all the faces are identical to wear I feel like im watching the much-better Osomatsu-san. Everyone’s haor had this weird splotch of (root?) color at the top making it look like they all had bad dye jobs. Even the bodies have mostly the same shape. This designer should be fired. Some of the backgrounds during the songs looked nice I guess. Animation: Ugh. Some of these episodes would have at least a third of the scenes shown in still frames. It’s almost like they didnt try. Theatre is a very visual and moving art, but it feels so stiff, just like most of their dance sequences. Also, please fire this animation director. Overlaying ugly still images over simple repetitive movements doesnt look nice, it makes it look like you got lazy. There was also an extreme over use of sparkles. Come on. At least I got some good laughs at the over the top performances. Nayuki rode on a dolphin through the sky. That’s good shit.

Ludonarrative dissonance is a pretentious term from 2006 game reviewers that refers to a game's narrative clashing with its gameplay. Having watched "Starmyu", formerly referred to as "High School Star Musical", I believe that this term should be co-opted for things outside of video games, such as animation. There's a certain point in the final episode where the titular Stardust Team claims that they will host their final performance in an avant-garde way. You see, that's sort of the overarching story of this show. The musical team of our 5 main characters likes to perform in unconventional ways - challenging the standards of their school ensnaredwith tradition. So while this embracing of the new and unconventional ways totally makes sense within the show's story, it clashes with the anime as a whole. I have not watched Prince-Sama, but I have been told by multiple trusted sources that High School Star Musical's format is a carbon-copy of it. And judging by descriptions alone that makes total sense. Both feature musical academies with teams of 5 bishonen boys color-coded by their hair, and are likely made to appeal to the exact same audience. While High School Star Musical's moral seems to be embracing quirky and new ideas, its execution is the exact opposite. It plays itself so safely that there's not a single moment of the show that stands out to me. Likewise, there's not a single moment that I really hated. High School Star Musical carefully constrains itself into as many classic tropes it can find, and by doing so, makes itself a bastion of average. Although I didn't hate any of it, High School Star Musical definitely has some quirks. The character designs look like they were stolen from the vaults of the producers of Free!, and the character models seem are very samey. Episode 6 introduces two twin girl characters (the only girls in the whole show, literally), and they kind of look like the animators just took their standard boy designs and added some long pink hair. Also they reminded me of those twin girls from Johnny Test. God bless all of our souls. High School Star Musical, like almost every bishonen show, suffers badly from queerbaiting. The target audience of this show was surely preteen and teenage girls, and to capitalize on that, the producers made sure to add plenty of romantic tension between the main characters. But never enough. You see, the producers want those teenage girls to take the cast of High School Star Musical as their husbandos. However, they also know that boy's love sells. In an attempt to appease both, the producers add all sorts of blushes, stuttering, and even misinterpreted declarations of love and dates, but never actually announce that their male characters are in gay relationships. This queerbaiting is present in western shows too (think Supernatural and Sherlock), and once you notice it, it's really hard to ignore that the producers are using marginalized sexual orientations as a footstool to make their show more popular, without even giving those orientations proper representation. I've been giving High School Star Musical a lot of flak, but if its goal was to create an utterly average show like I outlined earlier, then it did it well. If you don't put a lot of critical thinking into it, the show isn't a slog to get through - under one condition. If you watch the show at 1.5 times speed, it becomes easy to get through and all the music goes nightcore mode. The lines are simplistic enough that you can keep up with reading too. Shortening episode duration to 15 minutes makes this show incredibly manageable, and if I hadn't discovered this I would probably have given it a lower rating. In the end, High School Star Musical seems as average as can be, but there may be a lot of value in the discourse that results from it. Its ludonarrative dissonance is strongly resonating and each viewer may interpret said dissonance very differently. _____________ Back in 2006, when the term "ludonarrative dissonance" was coined, game reviewers were so caught up in talking about how a game's mechanics worked alongside its story that they forgot to actually talk about things readers cared about, like whether the game was fun and worth buying. Sort of like how you can read a Pitchfork album review and have no idea what the music is supposed to sound like. So for the Starmyu Review, I tried to recreate that feeling of being so far up your own ass that you can't even write good reviews.

the only enjoyable thing about this show was making fun of it. my friend and i literally came up with a new backstory for the main character because he was so painfully boring and bland. he was like an unseasoned chicken breast-- he was that bad. he wasn't talented!! he sucked!! there was nothing about his character that i liked. he's probably the worst main character i've ever seen in an anime. the four others in the main group were fine. they were really only defined by one or two things/traits, but they were better than the main character, who i hate with a fiery passion. theonly people i cared about in this series was the rival group. if THEY were the stars i would have loved this show. they were ten times more interesting than the main group, i screamed every time they came on screen, and they were just the better group. i was hoping and praying for their final performance, AND I DIDNT EVEN GET TO SEE THAT. WHAT THE HELL. the music wasnt that bad, but i didn't care about the story. at first the art caught my eye, but as it went on the amount of boring shots in each episode really killed it for me. so yeah i don't like this show. i might watch season two just to mercilessly mock it and scream at the dumbass main character, but i doubt it. looking back on it, the show was just pretty boring to me.

I am a quite big fan of music anime and handsome anime guys so it's a given that I would like this anime.But I don't think you would regret watching this even if only to laugh at the boys' weird dances(and songs) that pop out of nowhere. Story(7/10) At first I didn't know what I was getting myself into,I just knew there would be music so that was enough for me.The story isn't all that new and was fairly predictable but it still was entertaining. The main character,Hoshitani once saw a boy dancing when he was in middle school and it captivated the protagonist so much that heeven enrolled at Aoyanagi academy to become an amazing entertainer.He didn't really know much else besides the fact that he could achieve his dream there so when Nayuki tells him about the competition for the star frame class,he enters without realising that it isn't all that easy.But then his performance catches Ootori's eye so he takes Hoshitani under his wing along with 4 other students who were supposed to fail.From then on they proceed to follow their senpai's lead and actually having fun with what they do unlike the other members who follow the rules to maintain the school's tradition and reputation.There are a few obstacles and thorns along the way of our heroes but there isn't anything our heroes can't overcome with the power of music. The story is simple enough,the pacing felt a bit slow at times(but they actually rehearse!) and halfway through is just getting to know the characters but it's a nice change to sit back and relax,enjoy the music and laugh. Art(7/10) Most animes of this genre us a more mature look for the characters that would give a more appealing look but this one used a more cartoonish style.Three of the main guys have unbelievably big eyes(Nayuki looks like a bunny with that pout of his) but the rest look alright.Their rivals seemed better looking in my eyes to be honest.And most of them were ''assigned'' a color to make the differences visible.For example Hoshitani green,Tengenji red,Nayuki yellow ,Tsukigami blue,Kuga purple,etc.It's a given with the number of characters I guess.I am at least glad that this anime doesn't use CGI for the dances,that would've been horrible. Sound(7/10) The songs aren't all that wow but they are acceptable.Not too memorable either but I enjoyed the opening and ending,Kuga and Tsukigami's character songs and their first performance.It's also a plus that Ootori has the voice of Grimmjow(Bleach),Aomine(Knb),Ren(Utapri) and Atobe(Pot).Every time he says ''boys'' is a blessing to my ears. Characters(7/10) The characters follow quite a bit on single trait basis at first:Hoshitani is the one who can get along with everyone,Nayuki shy,Tengenji tsundere,Kuga quiet,Tsukigami the brocon and Ootori the model.Even if there wasn't that critical of a development in the boys,it still was pleasing to see beyond their stereotypical appeareances,relate to the characters and cheer them on.I'm a bit surprised at the relationship between the student president and Ootori but I feel it was a nice addition.The president's fanboy annoyed me like hell though.Did he really have to butt in every time.At least in the end he gives the boys a break... Enjoyment(7/10) This has been a nice experience for me because I managed to forget my worries when I was watching those students achieve their dreams.It isn't the most memorable of animes and you won't have a change of life perspectives because of it but it's entertaining.I would rewatch it again just because. Overall(7/10) It's an average musical anime with all the clichest of premises but I felt it was something more than that and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to unwind and enjoy its liveliness.